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To Protect
Brenda and the PHD go out of their way to covertly cover for Provenza and Flynn when a body is found in Provenza's garage, disappears and turns up undressed and cut open elsewhere. The Victim *Katherine Landis, former surrogate mother The Suspects Evidence Closing the Case Brenda's Story Guest Cast Daniel Roebuck Alan Roth Steven Flynn Craig Spengler Sarah Zimmerman Mrs. Spengler Jeff Kober Scott Campbell Kenneth Davitian Mr. Sarcasian Locations Episode Notes This episode is the first in what has become an annual tradition on The Closer: the "Flynn and Provenza" episode. In these annual episodes, always written by Adam Belanoff, we follow the antics of Lt. Provenza and his hapless partner, Lt. Flynn, who is usually left to trail in his wake, or clean up his mess. Written to illustrate the partnerships developing within the PHD, the episodes quickly became welcome comedy relief, and firm fan favorites. ---- A Closer in-joke was born in this episode: the line of dialogue, "With me, with me, with me!" which Brenda or Pope use when rather urgently summoning an underling. ---- The baseball game that Provenza and Flynn were headed to was the Los Angeles Dodgers versus the San Francisco Giants. This is one of the oldest, and most intense, rivalries in professional baseball, dating back to the time when both teams played in New York, also now reflecting the rivalry between the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. ---- At the beginning of the episode, Flynn and Provenza are headed for the game at''' Dodger Stadium''' and "sky box" seats. Dodger Stadium does not have sky boxes; the only private box in the stadium is the owner's and tickets for it cannot be purchased. The premium tickets at Dodger Stadium are called "Club Level" tickets because they are on the same level as the Stadium Club, owner's box, and press boxes. On the other hand, Flynn and Provenza both wear authentic, and expensive, Dodger jackets and hats. ---- After it was removed from Provenza's garage, the body was moved to a site along Sepulveda Blvd. Taylor later complains Brenda cannot pronounce the name! Sepulveda Blvd. is a major north-south street running nearly 30 miles from just south of LAX, where it runs under one of the airport's runways, through Westwood (and alongside the Federal Bldg. where Fritz works) and the Sepulveda pass, where the body was probably found, before ending at the San Fernando Valley. For much of its distance, it runs alongside the heavily traveled I-405 freeway, and serves as an alternative route between West LA and the Valley. ---- Flynn: A case of McCray Ridge 1997? Brenda: Mmmm! My favorite Merlot. Though in a pinch I'll take Beringer Howell. McCray Ridge Winery is located in the Healdsburg region of Sonoma, California. It is a "boutique" winery, known for its Two Moon Vineyard Merlot. Flynn would have a hard time finding 1997; its current release is 1999. Beringer Vineyards is the oldest continuously working winery in the Napa Valley, located in the center of the St. Helena. It makes a large number of modestly priced wines, and a few premium wines, among them a Merlot made from grapes grown in the Howell Mountain region, considered one of the best grape-growing regions of the Napa Valley. ---- After removing the cables from the recording equipment in an interrogation room, Daniels shows them to Brenda and says, "Bless me, Reverend Mother, for I have sinned." This alludes to scene from the 1965 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music." Two nuns from the convent where Maria once live remove the distributor wires from the cars belonging to the Nazis so they are unable to follow the Von Trapp family. When the Reverend Mother confronts them, one delivers the line while showing her the wires. Trivia In this episode, the cast credits rise as Provenza and Flynn open and close the garage door, as if they were written on the door itself. Episode Media Category:The Closer Category:Season 2 Category:Episodes Category:Flynn and Provenza